Recession’s toll on men’s mental health

The local support worker concurs with the newly published research from the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPHI) which suggests a causal relationship between unemployment and mental ill health amongst men.

‘Facing the Challenge: The Impact of Recession and Unemployment On Men’s Health in Ireland’ (June 2011) suggests billions are being spent tackling mental health problems every year in Northern Ireland.

It cites a report by the Northern Ireland Association of Mental Health (Niamh) which reckons mental illness costs the NI economy £3billion per year and suggests there would be huge economic benefits from promoting mental well-being through robust, strategic and multi-agency approaches.

The report goes on to draw on the experience of MAN, which provides a front-line, one-to-one service for men from its office on Londonderry’s Carlisle Road.

According to ‘Facing the Challenge’ MAN emphasised the importance of having a welcoming, comfortable, male-friendly environment and workers who are aware of how men think and act.

There should also be no conflict between the needs of men and the community workers trying to help them and there should be an ability to offer confidentiality, empathy, trust, a non judgemental approach and to assist men to find an emotional language which will support them.

The report - carried out by the Nexus Research Co-operative - found that men interviewed about the recession and unemployment reported high levels of stress or anxiety, a dependence on alcohol or drugs, a deterioration in physical health, conflict in personal relationships, isolation and a reluctance to seek help.

It chimes with a simultaneous report by the British Medical Association (BMA) ‘Improving Men’s Health in Northern Ireland’ (June 2011) which reports that men die earlier, are more likely to have heart attacks, smoke heavily, drink more and commit suicide.

The BMA also reports an urgent need to improve services. Speaking to the Sentinel, Mr Lynch, says the economic recession and the accompanying high levels of unemployment - Londonderry has the worst level in Northern Ireland - were exacerbating an already serious problem.

“Although we’ve moved forward from stereotypes men still to a large degree identify themselves as providers,” said Mr Lynch. “They want to look after their families and everything else.”

“This has become increasingly difficult in the times we are in. More and more men are losing their jobs or taking cutbacks. It is severely hampering their ability to do that. That, by default, is having a knock on effect on their selves, their relationships and their ability to look after and provide for their families,” he said.

Mr Lynch said this was having a detrimental effect on men’s health and well-being. MAN provides time intensive one-to-one counselling and support to up to 30 men every week but demand is increasing whilst resources are decreasing.

“We have noticed an increase in demand,” Mr Lynch told the paper. “Increasingly, we see - particularly in these times, financial difficulties, worries over jobs, job losses, trying to deal with the fallout of all that.”

He continued: “This causes tensions in families and relationships because there is a constant worry about how do we manage, how do we survive, the fear of losing the home, the house and all of that. It causes great difficulties. We are seeing that increasingly.”

Having worked in the sector since MAN’s establishment as a self-help support group in the mid-nineties Mr Lynch, said it was almost impossible to meet the increased demand for services in the current straitened financial times.

“The easy answer is to say there is never enough, because there is a growing need, when there is a growing decline in the resources. There is always going to be that conflict and unfortunately the more dire the situation people are in the more need there is - you find within the NHS itself there is increased need - at a time when they are cutting back.

“You can’t really balance those two. We are looking into a future that is still gloomier. There doesn’t seem to be a sense of it lightening any time soon so a lot of people are struggling in very, very hard times.

“We are all trying to live our lives in a manageable way. Whether that’s health, finances, relationships, parenting or whatever it is. If any of them are unmanageable that creates difficulties for anybody. Particularly, the financial demand just to survive,” he said.

Mr Lynch said recent research showed that even the fear of losing jobs was a major cause of worry and concern for men. This played on people’s minds and made people ill at ease.

“The longer that goes on and the stronger that is the more intense it becomes and the more difficulties people have,” he explained.

MAN is supportive of the recommendations of a Men’s Health policy produced by the Man Matters project in March and which aims to tackle the root causes of men’s ill health.

The local support hub also backs the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) policy manifesto 2011 which calls on the Executive to ensure that men’s issues and needs are reflected in government departments’ Gender Action Plans and that a Men’s Health and Well-Being Policy is adopted in Northern Ireland. In the meantime, however, MAN will continue to provide a safe and comfortable environment for men to call on if they find they need help or advice.

“Men so often identify themselves by their ability to work and provide. Through no fault of themselves - it’s a different argument about who got us into this mess in the first place - often people are in the midst of this and we try to create a space where men can even understand that and look at the reality of that and where their next steps can be and how they can deal with that and maybe look at some of the difficulties.

“To allow them manage it in a healthier way. It’s not as if this is going to get better any time soon. So the only thing any of us can do is learn to manage it in a way that is the least upsetting or the least damaging, that causes the least anxiety or worry and concern. That’s going to be difficult for many, many people,” said Mr Lynch.